We Are Alive If Others Remember Us
by Caitlin Olivia
Summary: We must always fasten seatbelts across our delicate little hearts. Maybe she hadn't hated James for as long as we all thought? Rated M for later in the story :) Jily/Blackinnon the whole works! Plus some other characters which I made up! Cover Image credit goes to Anxious Pinapples! :D
1. Chapter 1 - The Train to Christmas

**Hello! This is my first FanFiciton story so play nice! :D Reviews are welcome, hope you like it! - CO x**_  
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_For the end of May the day was bitterly cold. Even being squashed between Alice and Marlene at the top of the stands, the wind still nipped at my face and hands._

_"Come on Gryffindor!" Alice squealed._

_"God, Al. Would you not scream so close to my ear?" I grumbled. The heavy book in my lap kept getting jostled every time the pair of them jumped up and down._

_"Oh you spoil sport Lil". Alice jumped again, whooping and punching her fist in the air._

_"Oi Hess, actually hit the damn ball!" Marlene shouted as Hestia zoomed past on her broom, wielding her bat furiously after the bludger she was chasing._

_"Not you too". This was the last place I wanted to be so close to the exams, I was wasting perfect studying time! With no one in the castle I would finally get some peace._

_"And you!" Marlene turned to me when she had finished yelling at Hestia, "This is a Quidditch match not a bloody library!" Before I could form a response she grabbed the book out of my hands and shoved it into her satchel._

_"Marrrr…" I moaned, getting to my feet._

_"Good you're on your feet, now you may as well cheer and support your house in the final for the Quidditch Cup!"_

_"What? I thought this was just a friendly!" I cried, finally turning my attention to the pitch. "What's the score?"_

_"110 to 70, Ravenclaw are leading" Alice piped up as a Ravenclaw player snatched the quaffell away from a Gryffindor chaser. All the players were frantically flying around the pitch: beaters waving their bats; chasers crashing into each other in the fight to get the quaffell and the seekers searching the stadium for the tiny fleck of gold that was the snitch._

_On the pitch below I could just distinguish which chasers were which as they blurred into coloured blobs. After several moments I saw the mess of black hair I was looking for. I followed his movement as he caught the quaffell deftly with one hand and sped up the pitch toward the Ravenclaw keeper. Then out of nowhere a large Ravenclaw chaser appeared in front of him, blocking his path to the goals. He looked left to see if he could pass off the quaffell, seeming to ignore Sirius who was next to him on his right, but he didn't pull up in time to avoid the chaser who grabbed the front of his broom and flipped him through the air. A mass of red Quidditch robes plummeted toward the ground._

_The whole stadium held its breath._

_"ARESTO MOMENTUM" A booming voice bounced around the stadium and the red blur slowed greatly to rest gently on the grass. Dumbledore stood out amongst the teachers who were all gathered in the stands opposite us, his wand still raised._

_"Why didn't the bloody arse just pass to Sirius? He was in the perfect position to score!" I yelled gripping Marlene's arm._

_"Lil, I thought you knew" she said quietly "He's really angry with Sirius and won't even look at him"._

_"What?"_

_In the air, the referee – Madam Campbell – was screaming herself hoarse at the chaser and, with a blast of her whistle, called for a Gryffindor penalty. The rest of the team gathered around their captain on the grass below and, after quick deliberation, he clambered back on his broom. He shot toward Madam Campbell, who was positioned in front of the Ravenclaw goal posts, his hair considerably more ruffled than before. The stadium was silent again as he lined up to take the shot, and then there was cheering from the Gryffindor stands. The penalty was over so quickly that if you had blinked you would've missed it._

_Play resumed as usual, the Gryffindor team working as a solid unit through the Ravenclaw players. I paid close attention to the chasers and saw that he still refused to pass to Sirius. I had had enough._

_"For God's sake Potter! Pass to Black!" I screamed above the cheers. James' head whipped up at my shout as he caught the ball again._

_"Look at Frank!" Alice shrieked excitedly, pointing widely at the other end of the pitch. The Gryffindor seeker and just launched into a spectacular dive. The snitch wasn't visible from this distance; one could only assume that it was beyond his out stretched hand. At the same time I spotted Potter reluctantly chuck the quaffell at Sirius who slipped it easily through the bottom left hoop. Madam Campbell blew her whistle to single the end of the game and all at once every single Gryffindor went wild._

_Frank landed gracefully with his arm thrust over his head as his team crashed around him, clapping him on the back and yelling. Students were now spilling onto the pitch and racing toward the red clad players. I was pushed along with the crowd, running with them, excited to see our house finally receive the Cup from Dumbledore. I lost both Alice and Marlene in the throng of people, finding myself in front of the team much quicker than I had anticipated. The mass of bodies around me knocked me into someone and as I turned to apologise, I felt a warm arm snake around my waist – pulling me closer to their body. Everyone around us was still cheering and congratulating each other on the excellent win. I tilted my head up to see who the mystery person was and jumped in surprise._

_"Lily" James breathed. I saw my startled expression in the reflection of his glasses as he lowered his face to mine, his warm lips crashing down on my startled ones. At first I was motionless, shock still freezing my body, but when he didn't stop I felt my arms link around his neck and my hand curling into his hair. I was completely oblivious to the world around me; like James and I had been catapulted into our own paradise and nothing else mattered. Our lips moved in time, a groan escaping James' mouth when I nibbled playfully at his lower lip. James' tongue flicked over my lips insistently and I accepted parting my lips – he tasted of the syrup he'd had on his pancakes that morning._

_"Hey Ja-WHAT?" Sirius had appeared next to James'- no Potter's - shoulder with his mouth open in surprise. Shit._

"Earth to Lily" Hestia said shaking my shoulder roughly. I was on the Hogwarts Express on the way home for Christmas. Wow, that had been a vivid daydream or maybe I should say memory. "Lil you looked very deep in thought, what were you thinking about?" she continued.

"Oh nothing, you know just how much food I'm going to eat this holiday" I mumbled. Marlene laughed loudly from her seat opposite me. In that moment I noticed that Alice wasn't in the compartment anymore.

"Hey where's Al?"

"Oh Mr Longbottom paid us a visit whilst you were out of it and stole her" Marlene smirked.

"Well, I think they're rather sweet together" Hestia interjected.

"You think everything is sweet".

Marlene McKinnon, Hestia Jones and Alice Prewett have been my best friends since we began Hogwarts five years ago and not only because we had to share a dormitory together, we had literally clicked straight away. Sometime during last year Frank Longbottom had finally plucked up the courage to ask out Alice, much to her brother's' annoyance. Fabian and Gideon were not only her brothers but also Frank's best friends.

The compartment door crashed open then to reveal a tall, muscular boy with jet-black shoulder length hair. "MARELY" he squealed in a high girlish voice. Sirius collapsed onto the seat next to Marlene's and flung an arm around her shoulders.

"Honestly Black you sound like a first year" Marlene giggled. Their relationship was very awkward. Oh not because they didn't suit each other, hell no they both caused about as much trouble as the other, Marlene's older brother was the problem. Unlike Fabian and Gideon, who had come to accept Frank and Alice's relationship, Troy had problems understanding his sister's relationship. As he had specifically said that Sirius was a 'player who saw girls as objects' and if he ever saw Marlene with him he would 'beat the shit out of him', their relationship involved a lot of secret meetings and broom cupboards. I sometimes wondered if they just used each other for the physical stuff, as neither of them had had a proper relationship before and Sirius had been known to go through several girls in a year. However, since it began in October they seemed content with their arrangement.

"So, who's excited for the hols then?" Sirius continued in an excited voice, practically bouncing in his seat.

"Hmm…sounds fun," I said looking away from the window.

"Sounds fun? But…Evans, this holiday is going to be the best you have ever had!"

"And why is that Black?" I sighed.

"Because you get to spend a wonderful amount of time with me and Prongs of course!"

I choked on my own spit. "You what?"

Hestia began to laugh from behind the newspaper she was reading. Marlene just looked at me as if I was stupid. "Lil, the Potter's are my cousins they always stay with us at Christmas".

"But you said it was only me who was staying over!" I protested.

"Yeah, that I invited" Marlene said slowly "My parents invited the Potters".

"So how does Sirius come into this?"

"I live with the Potters, they aren't about to leave me at home all alone on Christmas now are they?" Sirius grinned.

"But…but…what about Hess? And Alice?" I spluttered at Marlene, hoping that she would understand that I couldn't spend the holidays with Potter.

"Well Hestia here is apparating back to good ol' Ireland to spend some time with her family of Leprechauns and Alice is spending Christmas with Frank's family so they can try to persuade his mother to like her". She smiled a little too sweetly at me which made me think that she could read my mind. Yes, I had successfully managed to avoid speaking to Potter or being alone with him since…well…the, err, incident after the Quidditch Cup last year. Just about anyway…

_"Evans! Oi! Evans!"_

_Ugh. I had just stepped off the girl's staircase into the common room when I heard the voice. It was the day after the final and my mood on a Sunday morning isn't great at the best of times, let alone when I have a hangover, so hearing his voice just pushed me over the edge._

_"What the bloody hell do you want Potter?" I snapped. James was walking toward me from the fire where I could see the rest of the Marauders and Marlene lounging on the squashy sofas._

_"I need to talk to you" James said, he was now standing right in front of me blocking my route to the portrait hole, great, not a quick escape then. I had never noticed how tall James Potter actually was but I found I had to tip my head back to see his face, as he was so close. The motion gave me an odd sense of De Ja Vous. For a second I couldn't understand why and then it all came rushing back, the day before – the kiss – the sensation of him pulling my body against his and his lips crashing down on mine. Wait, he's still in front of me. Now is not the time to remember that, shit. I should probably reply._

_"I can't," I murmured, stepping to the side to move past him. James, however, was adamant that we would talk and stepped in front of me again, catching a hold of my arm._

_"Why not?" he asked, "You're not doing anything right now. Come on Lily"._

_"Because, Potter, the world does not revolve around you and I need to study," I said sarcastically, snatching my arm back. "Oh and did I mention the fact that our first exam is in three days?"_

_"Lily-" he began._

_"No" I cut across. "I will be in the library studying for our Charms exam and if you follow me I will hex your ears off"._

_"Evans please, you do not need to study for charms you can probably recite the flippin' text book in your sleep" James laughed. I kept my face poker straight and stepped forward until we were practically nose-to-nose._

_"_I_ will be studying for charms and _you _will not follow me". Shit, too much time in close vicinity with James' lips - I could taste his minty breath on my lips. Stepping back quickly I slipped round James whilst he was momentarily frozen and escaped out of the portrait hole. _

Okay, I only have to last two weeks. I can do this. I'll…um…help Mrs McKinnon with some cooking; no she'll have Mrs Potter. Oh no, what am I going to do? I went back to staring out of the window; snow was falling softly over the wild countryside. Maybe I should just visit Flourish and Blotts and pick up some new books…that would keep me busy for a while. My contemplating was interrupted by the sound of squeals. Sirius had pinned Marlene to the seat and began to kiss her face and neck.

"Honestly Mar" Hestia sighed folding up her newspaper, "What if Troy came in and saw you? Didn't you say he was going to come see us at lunch?"

"Oh shit" Marlene grabbed Sirius' wrist from by her head and read his watch. "Shit, shit, shit". She sat up, pushing Sirius off of her. "Time for you to go, mate" she grinned and dropped a kiss on his lips.

"But-" he began to protest. Marlene gave his shoulder a push.

"No!" she giggled, "Do you want Troy to break your nose and spoil your handsome face?" Sirius hopped to his feet quickly.

"See you in a few days then, beautiful" he said with a wink at Marlene.

"Bye Sirius" Hess smiled.

"Black" I nodded.

"Evans, my darling how am I going to last these next few days without seeing your face?"

"Oh, sod off!" I said, turning back to the window. Sirius laughed and with a wave toward Hestia left, slamming the compartment door behind him. It was silent for a little while but the silence wasn't awkward, we'd been friends for way too long for anything to be awkward between us, I mean we get changed in front of each other for crying out loud! Sirius had barely gone for three minutes when we heard footsteps outside.

"Hey Mar, why was Sirius Black walking away from this end of the train?" Troy asked. Troy McKinnon was a slight boy, not too tall and not too small, with golden blonde hair like his sister's which he styled into a small quiff. I looked at Marlene quickly to see if she would fluster but she kept her cool and simply said "how am I supposed to know I don't keep a tracking charm on him and hello to you too".

"Right, hi. So he didn't end up in here then?" Troy narrowed his eyes at Marlene.

"No"

"You sure?"

"Troy it's just been us, hasn't it girls" Marlene appealed to us. Hestia nodded and I just murmured my consent.

"Fine" he flopped down in the seat which Sirius had recently vacated. There was a knock at the door: "Anything off the trolley dears?"

The next half an hour was spent stuffing our faces with pumpkin pasties and cauldron cakes. Hestia lugged out her collection of chocolate frog cards and began swapping them with Troy. This resulted in an argument and Troy's eyebrows being turned blue.

"God Hess, maybe you should join Barnabas you barmy lady" he grumbled as I carefully changed his eyebrows back to their original blonde. To avoid any more arguments, I pulled out a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. We spent the rest of the journey cringing when we got a foul taste and rejoicing when we got a yummy bean.

The Hogwarts Express pulled into King's Cross Station just after three in the afternoon. The platform was busy and streaming with students calling for their parents, Owls hooted and cats meowed making the noise almost deafening. Marlene grabbed my arm and held on tight as we went to retrieve our trunks, Troy in front of us cutting a clear path. We said goodbye to Hestia as she disappeared through the barrier promising us that she would be around for New Year.

"Come on then Lil, you first" Marlene said gesturing for me to push my trolley through the barrier. I heard her shout, "don't crash into any muggles!" as I ran at the wall. King's Cross materialised in front of me and I had barely caught my breath when Marlene and Troy appeared behind me.

"I said to Mum that we'd meet her in the car park" Troy called over his shoulder as he pushed his own trolley towards the exit.

It was at this point, when we were leaving the station that something would always tug at my heart. When I first came to Hogwarts both of my parents would always be here to pick me up at the end of every term. It was at Easter in second year that my dad turned up alone. He informed me that my mother had been in hospital and the doctors said that she had breast cancer. According to the radiation doctor she wasn't responding well to her chemotherapy. That holiday was the worst of my life. Mum hadn't made it out of hospital and had passed away in her sleep just before I was due back at Hogwarts. I had cried for a month straight refusing to talk to any one for longer than a minute and throwing myself into my studies. I mean Severus would still sit by me in class and look at me in alarm whenever I broke into tears, occasionally offering his shoulder for me to cry on. But that was before…well…yeah. It was only when Potter and the rest of the marauders picked on Severus that I showed any emotion, even then it was only anger. I sometimes wondered if I was actually angry at Potter or just at the world for taking the one person who mattered most in my life. My mum had been my best friend, losing her destroyed me. Finally, Marlene was the person to snap me out of it. She told me about the wizard who was gaining power and brutally killing muggles just for the fun of it. That was when I realised that my mother's peaceful death had been the best for her. I owe Marlene everything for helping me out of the pit of depression I had fallen in to.

"Hey Lil. Are you going to get into the car?" Marlene called from the back seat. I could see her little brother Josef already asking countless questions about Hogwarts, bless him – he was only eight. Her mum smiled at me from the front seat: "Hello Lily darling". Troy helped me lift my trunk into the extended boot of the car before climbing in the car next to his mum. I shut the boot and got in next to Josef and then we were off, manoeuvring our way through the snow. It was a fairly long drive to their house in Oxford, so I settled in and soon drifted to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2 - This Means War

**Yay! Another chapter! Sorry it took so long, I had deadlines and stuff. Anyway I hope you enjoy and that you all had a good Christmas! Please Review! - CO x**

I jolted awake as we pulled onto the gravel drive in front of Marlene's house. Mr McKinnon was standing in the open door way, waiting to greet us. The snow was falling slightly heavier by now, so we hurried into the warm, leaving Marlene's dad and Troy to bring in our luggage.

The McKinnon's lived in a comfortable house for the size of their family. Each of the children had their own bedroom and there were an equal number of bathrooms: Marlene had completely refused to share a bathroom with any of her brothers. As we skidded into the small foyer I realised that there wasn't going to be enough space for all of the guests that there McKinnon's were expecting over the winter break.

"Hey Mar, where is everyone going to stay?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" She was sat on the bottom step of the staircase, struggling to yank off her boots.

"Like where are the Potters going to sleep? I mean I know you and Sirius are cosy and all, but I don't think your parents would like it if you had to share a room". She laughed and, with a final pull, her boot went flying off her foot.

"Lil, you do remember that I come from an all wizard family right?" she said crossing to a door that was hidden by the staircase. I trailed behind her out of curiosity. "Oh, and be careful what you say - Troy has ears like a bat". She flung open the door and my jaw dropped. There was a whole other corridor with several doors leading off of it into, what I could only assume were bedrooms.

"I don't have to stay down there do I?" I asked tentatively. Just then our trunks appeared through the front door, seeming to float along on their own. Troy appeared behind them, his wand pointed at them, carrying his owl.

"Right, ladies you're on your own" Troy said, dumping the trunks in the middle of the room and disappearing into the kitchen. I looked at Marlene who looked back at me; we came to the same resolve. It took us ten minutes to get the trunks up the staircase, Marlene carrying the front and me bringing up the rear. I never realised how heavy those things actually are.

"Okay" Marlene huffed. "You are staying in Adrian's room since he's not coming back for Christmas. He's spending it with his girlfriend".

"Is it safe?" I laughed.

"Don't worry I sent Mum and Owl asking her to fumigate it". I pushed open the door to reveal a bedroom that certainly did not look like a boy's. "Huh, she must have re-decorated at the same time" Marlene said, looking over my shoulder. The walls were duck egg blue and cream which matched the white furniture gorgeously. Mrs McKinnon had also wrapped tiny fairy lights around the head board of the bed and placed a vase of flowers on the bedside cabinet.

"Your Mum is the best" I smiled happily.

"Yeah, just don't get on the wrong side of her or you could find yourself with stones in your food". Marlene left me for a little while to unpack.

I had just put my last pair of trousers in the chest of draws when I heard Mrs McKinnon's voice; magically magnified, saying that dinner was ready.

There's two days before the Potters will arrive with Sirius, meaning Marlene and I basically have that time to do as we wish whilst also giving me some time to mentally prepare myself for being in such close approximation with James again. There is definitely no magical girl's staircase to retreat up in Marlene's house to hide from him. Maybe I could persuade Marlene to go with me to Diagon Alley so I could buy the books.

That first night we spent the evening sat with Marlene's family telling stories of our last term, much to Josef's delight. Mr McKinnon is a funny man with a round belly which wobbled when he chuckled merrily at Marlene's recounts of the Marauders' antics. Troy's eyes narrowed every time she said Sirius' name with too much enthusiasm. Eventually the three of us - Marlene, Troy and I - had talked ourselves hoarse. Josef's eyelids were beginning to droop, so Mrs McKinnon sent us all up to bed. We parted on the landing all saying "Goodnight". I was so exhausted that I had barely changed into my tank top and shorts and tied my hair up before my head hit the pillow. However, when I was finally comfy my mind seemed to wake up again, it seemed to have decided that now was a good time to panic about Potter. Neither of us had really acknowledged that...kiss, thinking about it made my stomach churn. I couldn't tell if it was nerves or just that I had eaten too much at dinner. We'd been, well I mainly, fairly good at avoiding each other over the past few months, but now...oh shit. This Christmas break was going to be very interesting, and very stressful.

After my brain kept me up well past midnight with all of its thinking, I ended up sleeping in quite late the next day. I trudged downstairs to the kitchen, yawning and pulling my dressing gown on over my pyjamas. Josef and Mr McKinnon were sat at the table with the remains of their breakfast in front of them, whilst Mrs McKinnon leant against the counter.

"Good Morning" I smiled and sat down opposite Josef, who was reading a comic book.

"Morning, well nearly afternoon" Mrs McKinnon laughed, "seems like we all had a lie in today". A panicked look came across Mr McKinnon's face.

"Oh dear, I need to be in the office in ten minutes" he said getting to his feet, "I better get a move on". He kissed his wife's cheek and ruffled Josef's hair before striding out of the kitchen. I heard him shouting good bye to Marlene and Troy, before the front door opened and closed behind him with a snap. Mrs McKinnon placed some toast in front of me and I helped myself to jam as Marlene shuffled into the room.

"Was that Dad leaving?" she asked.

"Yes sweet heart, now do you girls know what you're going to do for the remainder of the day?" Mrs McKinnon placed a plate of toast in front of Marlene too. I looked to Marlene but she just shrugged and took a bite out of her toast.

"Well, the snow has stuck to the ground and it's quite deep" she said nodding towards the window.

"Seriously?" Marlene rushed to the back door and pulled it wide. The McKinnon's back garden looked beautiful; it looked like someone had dusted icing sugar all over it. A sly grin came over Marlene's face.

"Hey Lil, come here and watch this" she said. She didn't wait for me to reach her; instead she sprinted into the snow…still bare foot. I laughed as she ran like a loon making the first prints in the white blanket.

"Marlene Florence McKinnon get back in here this instance!" Her mum screeched. From behind me I heard Josef giggle at his sister getting told off. Marlene came back into the house grudgingly, her feet now a bright pink colour.

"Sorry Mum but you know me and Troy have a competition each time it snows to see who can make the first tracks in the garden" she said quickly before Mrs McKinnon could say anything.

"You could of at least put some shoes on first you silly girl!" Mrs McKinnon said sharply. "Now go and take a hot shower so you don't catch the flu".

Marlene trooped out of the kitchen leaving a small trail of water after her. I finished my toast quietly and then went back to my– well, Adrian's –bedroom. I took my hair out of the messy knot I had put it in to sleep and found that it curled loosely over my shoulders. Deciding to skip a shower and just wash in the sink I made my way into the adjoining bathroom. Although Mrs McKinnon had re-decorated the bedroom the bathroom was still distinctly masculine. There were bottles of cologne lined up by the sink and a razor with shaving cream in the medicine cabinet. I washed my face and teeth, applied some mascara and then wondered back into the bedroom. The door slammed open, bouncing back off the wall.

"WAR HAS BEEN DECLARED!" Marlene shouted, making me jump with fright.

"What did you say?" I asked flopping back onto the bed. Marlene marched across the room and pulled me up by the tie on my dressing gown.

"Colonel Troy McKinnon has challenged us to a snowball fight cadet!" She continued to shout. "Are you in?"

"Mar you know we're not in the army right? No war, no rankings, nothing" I sighed.

"Yeah but it's more fun to pretend! Stop ruining my fun!"

"Fine, what should I wear?"

"Jogging bottoms are probably best, and lots of layers! Meet you downstairs at twelve hundred hours!" She giggled, giving me a mock salute and sauntered back out the door.

"There are only twenty four hours in a day!" I called after her but she was already gone. By the time I had got down stairs Troy was the only one left in the kitchen, holding a shovel in one hand and a scarf in the other. His hair wasn't styled in its usual quiff but squashed under a beanie hat. He looked so much younger with his hair flopping over his forehead into his eyes.

"Hey Red, you ready to be beaten at war?" he grinned.

"Egh you sound like Marlene" I moaned, "and didn't we talk about you calling me 'red'". I brushed passed his shoulder and continued into the back garden, which definitely didn't look the same as the last time I saw it. The snow had been scraped away in some places so you could just see green tufts of grass poking through. I could just make out Marlene's blonde hair flying about behind a wall of snow, which was positioned between two trees at the bottom of the garden, as she hurried to make ammunition. I ran to join her in case either Josef or Troy decided to start the fight early.

"Hey, where've you been?" Marlene asked whilst still scraping snow into balls.

"I was getting dressed like you told me!"

"Well, you're really slow" she said "fancy making yourself useful and helping?" I rolled my eyes at her and began scraping my own pile of snow.

"Alright Ladies", I heard Troy yell from the other end of the garden. He and Josef had taken up shelter around the side of the garden shed. "No face shots or cheating, fair game?"

"Sure, whatever" Marlene called back.

"How do we know who wins?" I asked quickly before the onslaught started.

"Oh sweetie us McKinnon's are only done when someone gets injured, people get tired and forfeit or we run out of snow" She flashed a smile and then positioned herself around the side of our wall.

"CHARGE!" Josef cried as he ran across the space between our shelters, his arms full of snowballs. He pelted them at the spot where Marlene had been peeking out. There was a lot of laughter and screaming whenever someone got snow down their back, the walls that had once stood as our guards were flattened and dug away as we needed more ammunition. As the fight progressed everyone's faces got pinker from the cold and physical activity. The boys finally called for a time out long enough for us to re-group.

"Okay then" Marlene said when she joined me back by the trees, "I'm starting to get tired. We need a strategy to end this just so I can curl up with a hot chocolate".

"How about we sneak through the bushes that go round the back of the shed, now whilst they aren't looking, and the come at the from behind" I suggested, still trying to catch my breath. The grin appeared on Marlene's face again. She was quick to hurry through the foliage making as little noise as possible with me trailing behind her. We stopped at the back of the shed and poked our heads round the corner. Marlene held up three fingers and began counting down, and then we ran at them screaming scooping handfuls of snow on our way. We caught them so of guard that the boys didn't react in time before we jumped on them. Marlene tackled Troy, blonde hair flying, which left me to tackle Josef. I felt kind of bad seeing as he was only eight but there was plenty of snow behind him to break his fall. Out of the corner of my eye I spotted Marlene waving her handful of snow over Troy's face before stuffing it down the front of his jumper.

"Alright!" Troy cried holding his hands out in front of him to hold of Marlene's attack, "fine we forfeit!"

"You know that means that you have to give me and Lily foot massages later right?" Marlene said loftily.

"Yeah, but I'd rather touch your two's nasty feet then get frost bite and lose my own digits".

We all fell laughing through the back door just as Mrs McKinnon was putting the kettle on. As we were removing our wellies she asked "Does everyone want cream and marshmallows?"

"Oh yes!" Josef exclaimed "with a double helping of marshmallows and some chocolate shavings".

"Don't want much, do you sweetie?" she laughed and turned for the cupboards. As Mrs McKinnon bustled around finding enough mugs and marshmallows, we each took it in turns to dry ourselves with the towel she had left out.

"Mum, why couldn't you just wave your wand and cast a drying spell on us?" Marlene moaned.

"Because my darling that is the ignorant man's way of doing things" Mrs McKinnon said as she placed the steaming coco in front of us. "What if there comes a day when you can't use magic? You wouldn't know how to look after yourself".

"Alright Mum, I just meant about my hair…" Marlene grabbed her mug and left for the sitting room where there was a roaring fire; I picked up my mug and followed suit.

For the rest of the day all we seemed to do was lie around, drinking hot chocolate and watching movies on the old muggle TV Marlene's dad had bought home the previous holidays. It was nice to not be stressing about school work for once. I'd got all the holiday homework done before the end of term and now I didn't feel at all guilty about drinking so much chocolate! The credits of yet another film had just begun when I felt my eyes slowly drift into sleep.

**Marlene**

Lily's eyes had just fluttered closed when I heard a rap at the window. Gathering all my blankets around me, I shuffled to the cold glass and pushed it open. An owl with stunning plumage soared through and landed on the coffee table, Lily rolled over in her sleep so that she was now face down in the cushions. I recognised the owl instantly. It was Adeline, Sirius' Eagle owl, who else would have such a superior bird? She ruffled her feathers impatiently so I hurried to unlatch the letter tied to her leg. Sirius' scruffy hand writing stared back at me. I carried Adeline to the perch by the back door before settling back on the sofa to read Sirius' letter.

_Marley,_

_I know you hate it when I call you that but I couldn't resist! Anyway, as yours truly is arriving at your splendid house tomorrow with a certain scruffy haired counterpart I feel I should for warn you. He's gone nuts. Totally and utterly loopy! And it's Ginger's fault. He keeps going on about that kiss that nobody's allowed to talk about and how her hair always smells of strawberries – it's driving me insane! Anyhow – to the point! Could you please just try and sweet talk her into at least being friends with James? Otherwise the holidays are going to be unbearable! Well for him anyway but I'd have to hear about it and my brain is already like mush. I do pray to God that I never turn all sappy like Prongs. If I do I give your permission to slap me. Right, Mum told us that we should pack now so I'll see you tomorrow bright and early!_

_Love Sirius xo_

Seriously? He was asking me to ask Lily Evans to be friends with James Potter? I am not going to see Christmas this year. She'll probably curse me into oblivion for even mentioning it! With that in mind I set about writing a reply in which I depicted my very dramatic death in order to make Sirius feel bad. Yes, I know, we have a strange relationship like that. I strapped my reply to Adeline's leg and she took off into the night through the back door. I stood and watched her silhouette be swallowed up by the darkness and then returned to the warmth of the living room fire. I decided that it was best for Lily if I take her into London tomorrow before I attempted to make my request. Better for her to be out of range of the object of it or bedlam may begin.


End file.
